Time for Flu Shots

Summertime, and the livin’ is uneasy
Stocks are slumpin’
Unemployment is high

(with apologies to George Gershwin)

Reminders of the end of summer are upon us. Kids are returning to school. Rain covers are thrown over backyard grills. Flu vaccines are arriving in doctor offices.

This season’s influenza vaccine is here. It contains the flu strains most likely to reach North America this fall including H1N1, the flu strain formerly known as swine flu which caused so much hoopla last year.

The Centers of Disease Control this year decided that that the flu shot should be recommended for everyone over 6 months of age so as to limit the spread of flu and protect more people. The vaccine is particularly important for the following groups:

Pregnant women

Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old

People 50 years of age and older

People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions

People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities

People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:

Health care workers

Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu

Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than 6 months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)

The following people should not be vaccinated:

People who have a severe allergy to chicken eggs.

People who have had a severe reaction to an influenza vaccination.

People who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine.

Children less than 6 months of age (influenza vaccine is not approved for this age group), and

People who have a moderate-to-severe illness with a fever (they should wait until they recover to get vaccinated.)

So get your flu shot now, and start dreaming of an influenza-free winter.

Important legal mumbo jumbo:Anything you read on the web should be used to supplement, not replace, your doctor’s advice. Anything that I write is no exception. I’m a doctor, but I’m not your doctor despite the fact that you read or comment on my posts. Leaving a comment on a post is a wonderful way to enter into a discussion with other readers, but I will not respond to comments (just because of time constraints).

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